Making the Playoffs

By Adonal Foyle, with Chris Navalta

After 13 years, the Warriors have finally made the playoffs. And for the first time in my 10 years in the league, I'll be tasting the postseason excitement for the very first time.

Having been in the league for a decade, and not being able to taste the experience of postseason play, getting to this point was truly extraordinary.

Having given almost every bit of information about the Dallas Mavericks, I feel like I'm actually married to them. I just felt like I knew everything about them - what they eat, where they went the night before a game, etc. I felt like we were so in tune with what they do.

We received a five-inch thick binder, filled with information on every single player and every play that they've done all season. There were categories, percentages. We now know every single time they go left, every single time they go right, where they shoot most of their shots, what are their secondary moves and what are their third moves.

It probably felt like I was studying for one of my biggest exams back at Colgate. But what made this difficult was the exact details and the specifics of each player on the team. When it comes to being in the playoffs, it gets to the point where you think you know these players better than you know yourself. When you're potentially playing them seven times, you begin to start spitting things out in that first game:

"Don't let Josh go left. Send him right. He's going to spin back. Be there when he spins back." You just have a strategy that encompasses everything at such a high level and such detail. It's truly incredible.

Contrary to public belief, we don't really pay attention to the fact that we're playing in front of a national TV audience. But what we do pay attention to is once those lights go out and you realize that every single seat in the arena is filled to capacity. I mean EVERY single seat. And it is so loud and so deafening.

During shootarounds, there are usually a couple or reporters who want to talk to you. But now, there are 15 or 20 reporters. So, it's the subtle things that we, as players, begin to notice when it comes to the playoff experience. It was truly extraordinary.

The whole "routine" is thrown off as well because we're now spending an extended period of time in one city as opposed to leaving right after a game. We spent six days in Dallas at the start of the series. And it was really bizarre because in some ways you feel like you're on vacation because of all the down time. And you have to remember that there's a game that needs to be played - but that game isn't for another two days. So part of the difficulty is trying not to go crazy during that down time while having to wait for that game. We know the game will eventually come. And we can get caught up in asking: "Oh my God, is this game ever going to come?" And after the game is over, we have another two days or listening to every single person trying to analyze the previous game. At the same time, you don't want to play in a back-to-back game either. So, it's pretty interesting.

So far, I've played a little over two minutes in this series. But it was my first two minutes in a playoff game. I was able to score my first two points. And to me, that's huge. I've never been in the playoffs and now I can say that I've played in the playoffs. No matter how insignificant the minutes may have been, I've played in a playoff game. That's all that matters.

We're playing against the best team in the NBA. Everytime we step onto the floor, we're just trying to go out and compete with them. But at the end of the day, the Mavericks are the team that needs to win. They won 67 games in the regular season (sixth most in NBA history). We don't have to win. The Mavericks are supposed to win. But we're going to go in and try to win. It's their series to lose.

As far as our fans back in the Bay Area, it was absolute pandemonium. It was by far the greatest sight to see in our arena. Fans draped in yellow T-shirts, chanting "LET'S GO WARRIORS" before we even stepped onto the floor for warm-ups. It was absolutely rowdy. And that "Playoffs" logo on the floor looked really damn good. It was great to see everyone who's had to go through all the tough seasons (but were still supporting us) in the stands. They were screaming with excitement, dancing in participation. It was awesome.

I have been enjoying the ride thus far. And I will continue to enjoy it while it lasts. So, as always, I thank you for your ongoing support and I'll get back to you as soon as possible.